More breaks for dozy US air traffic controllers
Air traffic controllers in America are to get an extra hour off between shifts after a series of incidents in which workers fell asleep at work.
But transport heads have rejected another proposed remedy for them to take official naps during their shifts. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said yesterday the government would not pay controllers to sleep while on duty. Officials are set to tour airport towers this week to discuss the problems of sleeping on the job.
Five cases of sleeping controllers have been disclosed since late March. The latest came just before 5am on Saturday at a busy radar facility that handles high altitude air traffic for much of Florida, portions of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.